Dad's PC journey so far.... advice appreciated...

[jenjen80]

Hello all,

I've posted on here once before but not for the past few weeks.

Our journey over the last 3 months has been relatively up and down. Dad is about to have his 4th round of folfirinox tomorrow, but we are so concerned about his weight.

He's always been an athletic and extremely healthy person, up until this diagnosis in March. He's 67 years old. He's coping with the folfirinox relatively well, managing to keep sickness at bay and eating.

He by no means feels good though. This is mainly attributed to the weightloss he has experienced and the sheer exhaustion he has every day. He's gone from being over 11 stone down to 9 which is very upsetting to see. I have spoken to several people for advice, including doctors in other countries. We know he needs a high protein diet and we know its also a side effect of the PC and the chemo regime, but how can we stop this weight loss, or combat it? My dad is eating well, although not always the right things or the healthiest things for his body, but as long as he's eating, that the main thing. I think he is suffering with cachexia, i'm just wondering if anyone could offer advice as to how to deal with this if your loved ones have also experienced? He has all of the shakes and nutritional meal replacement drinks, although he will just about have one of these a day. He's eating hearty food and in good amounts, but to no avail at the moment. I know there is some combination of drugs that can help with putting weight back on?

He is also experiencing a lot of tummy cramps which i don't think are necessarily related to the tumour (in the tail of his pancreas) but we wondered if perhaps its the liver trying to constantly process the chemo chemicals? We have just got some milk thistle to see if that helps too.

I think the exhaustion is just a side effect, but my poor dad is literally sleeping on and off all through the day at the moment. Hard to see when just a couple of moths ago, he was golfing, cycling and in the gym every day.

He was also hospitalised 4 weeks ago for a blood clot in his arm near his pic line and a nasty case of cellulitis. I just want my Dad to get back to having some good days throughout his treatment where he feels more like his old self again!

Jenny x

[PCUK Nurse Jeni]

Hi Jenny,

I will email you directly.

KR,

Jeni.

Jeni Jones

Pancreatic Cancer Specialist Nurse

Support Team

Pancreatic Cancer UK

email: nurse@pancreaticcancer.org.uk

support line: 0808 801 0707